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When it comes to road rage, New York City ranks second, after Miami, according to a survey from an automobile club. We don't know if we should be proud or ashamed that we moved up from the three position!
We assume that we can credit drivers from other states, as well as resident NYers in helping us reach #2. The rest of the cities with rudest drivers: Boston at 3, LA at 4, and DC at 5. The most polite city is Seattle-Tacoma. Twenty-five metropolitan areas were included in the survey, and an average of 100 people were asked about things like running red lights, slamming on brakes, cell phone chatting, tailgating, etc.
Newsday finds some humor in the survey, "Now, when New Yorkers retire to Miami chances are they'll feel right at home." Hmm, NYC traffic may be a bear, but after a recent trip to Miami, we seriously doubt that Miami drivers actually know how to drive. Our personal favorite road-rage inducers are construction, double/triple-parked cars, street festivals and cars that turn on red. And we'd be curious how a non-driver - as in pedestrians, bicyclists, you name it - yelling at cars or the backseat-driver road rage survey (impatient taxi fares) - we bet NYC would come in at #1!
Related: Possibly the most disturbing PSA ever (the Irish do not f*** around when it comes to speeding) and a photographer is suing Lindsay Lohan and her mom for running him down on Ninth Avenue.
Photograph appropriately titled "into the belly of the beast" by lachance on Flickr
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At least New Yorkers (generally) utilize their turn signals. In Florida, signals are apparently only for decoration. Drivers just decide WELL I WANT TO BE OVER THERE NOW! and there they are. I've never seen a place with more of those little road fatality signs with the bouquets strapped to them. They probably keep the florists thriving between the big holidays.
A friend of mine from Florida said, "Miami is full of New Yorkers... that might have something to do with it."
I'll admit that I guilty of the turning on red deal. I grew up in Michigan, and there you are allowed to turn right on red.
The first time I drove here, I was wondering what the hell was wrong with people, and why they wouldn’t turn.
How not surprised am I? I'm a bicyclist and I put in over twenty miles a day going to and from work and everywhere else.
I see anger, carelessness, and danger. I see cars running red lights all the time; I see hard accelerations. I come too close to death on a daily basis due to the inattentiveness of others.
Do I yell at cars? Yes. Isn't that the same as road rage? No. The difference is, my anger stems not from people inconviencing me, but from people endangering my life.
I've lived all over and I've noticed:
Brooklyn: honking before the light even turns green. You'd better be MOVING before the light even turns otherwise everyone gets pissed off.
New Jersey: No blinkers used. Ever. Just change lanes without looking. Must get ahead. even in stopped traffic, must jockey for position, cut you off and drive the shoulder.
Westchester County: Red lights mean GO. Everyone goes through red lights, like they are not even there. Also they throw more garbage out of the car windows than anywhere I have ever been.
I drove from NYC down to South Carolina last winter and noticed only a few shitty drivers; all with NY or NJ plates.
I'm so proud to have been born and raised in the #1 worst driving city, and now calling the #2 home.
As crazy as driving in Manhattan seems, there are parts of Miami far worse, and the frogger's trying to cross the street don't make it any easier when we're trying to go 60mph in a 35.
The problem stems greatly from the vast numbers of immigrants coming from South and Central America where many streets don't have stop lights or traffic signals, so when they come to Miami, they assume it's the same. Coupled with overpopulation and the always-under-construction 826, 836, and often times US1 and I95, it's no wonder drivers are so impatient and rude. If you aren't halfway through the light by the time it turns green you will be honked by half of the city. Not to mention that all it takes nowadays to get a license in Miami is a face and a name, driving skills not necessary.
entropone, i think i've seen you riding your bike through lights, the wrong way down the street, etc... as some one who walks around the city as much as possible, i think its ironic that bicyclists complain so much as they seem to this bystander to be worse in many cases than cars which can barely move over 10mph in the city.
In past years, I've noticed that New Yorkers are actually better drivers than average, though they will let you know when they think think you are going to slow or trying to switch lanes at the wrong time. In much of the rest of the US, not just in Florida, people seem to have decided that its not necessary to use turn signals anymore. I was just in California, and in every other car the driver was talking on a cell phone. Bumper to bumper traffic is also really bumper to bumper, there is no concept of leaving some space between your car and another car.
I'd really like to see some comparable statistics of auto accidents per capita. However, like in other matters, with all the recent transfers and immigrants into NYC, driving here is starting to become just like in the rest of the country.
Jane, that's interesting. You're saying that drivers aren't actually unsafe because you've seen bicyclists be unsafe?
Well, that doesn't make much sense, does it?
Or maybe you're saying, I shouldn't express my opinion, because I ride a bike, and some bikers are unsafe.
That doesn't make much sense, either.
We all have a responsibility to be safe. Yes, I go through lights - carefully - but i hit the brakes hard even when peds - not all of whom appropriately shoulder their own responsibility to be safe - stroll through the lanes, jumping into my line without looking. Double hard if there's a child.
The difference is, cars have a higher burden of responsibility due to their sheer killing power. Yes, average traffic speed may hover at 10 mph, but can you honestly say you've never seen an SUV gun it around a cab to make it through a yellow, hitting 40 mph between here and the next red?
Look at the stats - cars are killing people all the time in this city. Bikers? Nope.
Yes, we all have a responsibility to be safe. Some bikers' actions don't delegitimize the voices of others.
surveys like this are dumb